It’s Your New Year’s Intention Not Resolution

Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution and found it didn’t last long into the first month of the new year? If you think about what you are doing when making a resolution, you are making a decision about being determined to get something done like quit smoking, take control of your eating or get fit. Making decisions occur in all areas of our lives, but are they thought out? I wonder, was your new resolution thought through in detail, planned out with a goal in mind, and having a rational intention as to why you chose this new resolution, rather than it being just a spur of the moment decision.

What is your intention for the resolution? Another way of asking this is, what is your purpose for taking the action that you are thinking about? Your intention links with how your unconscious mind will either help you or hinder you in your resolve. If you want to succeed, you really need to consider why you intend to take the action.

As an example, a simple new year’s resolution is to get fit. Great idea. Having thought about getting fit, you now need to ask yourself why, for what purpose? What benefits are fitness going to give you in the long term? What goals will fitness help you achieve?

About 18 months ago, I had to walk up a hill to the bus stop. I struggled and realised how unfit I was. I knew that the bus was the quickest and easiest way to get to the city, as I travelled there a couple of times a week. So I intended for myself to get fit so I could easily walk to the bus stop and still feel refreshed when I got on the bus rather than feeling exhausted. Having identified my intent, it has helped me to keep on track with walking over 10,000 steps at least 4 times a week. I now enjoy my walks and my fitness, and it allows me to listen to audiobooks and learn more about the mind and spirit.

Having a new year’s resolution can be very beneficial. Why not identify your new year’s intention first, so you know why you want it? This will help you stick to your actions.

Action for This Week

An intention is brought into your life before making a decision. Think about an area of your life you want to improve. If you are unsure, you can complete this worksheet to help you. The worksheet can be downloaded here: assessment wheel. Once you have decided on the area, contemplate and create a list of the reasons why you want to improve in this area of your life. For each reason, check that you feel comfortable within you and that it is a valid reason. Once you have the listed your reasons, they become the intention of why you want the improvement, to occur.

Since you may be used to your new year’s resolution failing, I would suggest you create your new year’s intention on 29 December 2016 so you are already breaking the old habit.